The Tale of Brinx
by HolySun
Summary: A side story of "Final Fantasy: Golden Warriors of the Light". Brinx, a resolute soldier of few words falls in love with an elusive mage named Dana. He fights to prevent the sinister age of dark magic. Dana suddenly vanishes from his life, and he fears she was kidnapped. He must make a crucial decision when he sees her once again a year later, but this time on the battlefield.
1. Quest One: Escape

**Quest One: Escape**

Rain falls. No, more like a storm rages. The dull, black clouds loom over the outlandish village Alryne. Well, not really outlandish, it's not a poor village. Just the section that Brinx lives in. The section where the poor orphans live. The kids with no one to call family. There are quite a few of them in Alryne, enough to group them all together into a whole section.

Brinx. A boy who's faced reality at an early age. His parents died when he was just a toddler, or so he's been told. But they actually were real, so he wasn't originally an orphan. He was told they were frail, unlike him, which made him doubt they were his actual parents. Then a "guardian" appeared at his tiny house. She was an old lady, very old. Frail, too. Frail was a word Brinx didn't like. He toughened himself up so he wouldn't die off like everyone related to him in his life. The old lady was going to die pretty soon, so he didn't bother remembering her name. She didn't even know his, let alone talk to him. She just made sure he was at least fed each day. She didn't care what he did or where he went. When Brinx would come home late at night, a plate was waiting for him. Cold though, since it would sit there for a few hours already.

When he turned fifteen, the old lady kicked the bucket. It was expected, so Brinx didn't feel anything. He doesn't really feel much in general. He wasn't raised that way. Now he was alone. Really alone. He considered the old lady some form of family, at least. Brinx pondered what he would do next. He didn't have money to buy food, and the desire of keeping a clean conscious refrained him from stealing some. Soon enough, Brinx ran out of food in his tiny house. It didn't bother him, until he became hungry that evening. Then he started to worry. He had to act for his own, something he'd never done before. What would he do? He thought a lot about it on his empty stomach, and considered to go around and beg, despite how pitiful it made him feel. Hardly anybody knew who Brinx was, as he didn't speak to anyone. He hardly ever speaks. He could ask someone for help. Maybe someone in the better part of town would take him in. He wouldn't be a nuisance to them, he thought, as he hardly did anything. That made him upset. No, angry. He felt he had no purpose and was just scraping by. But for what purpose? One less orphan kid wouldn't be a problem. Nobody would notice.

Then he saw two boys walking down the dirt path in front of his house after the rain and thunder had subsided. It was Neal, the loud bratty kid and his friend Sevrin. He could hear Neal all the way from his house, he was so loud. Neal was telling Sevrin about how excited he was that he would finally leave this dump as they passed his house. Brinx remembers that today was the day for the young kids to receive their duties by the village elder, Ingad, who had some magical power. Brinx didn't care about any of that. He had skipped his gathering two years ago, when he was thirteen. He hardly ever attended training and lessons. When he skipped, no one noticed.

But what he heard made him go outside and listen to the two boys some more. He heard Neal say to Sevrin that they should wake up very early to be by the gate by dawn. Brinx heard rumors earlier that Ingad, the village elder, discovered the two of them had some kind of special power. They were chosen to leave the village on an important mission. He thought of an opportunity. A chance to escape this place too. He knew there was nothing more for him here. He decided that he was going to sneak out when the chance arrives tomorrow at dawn. Luckily, it is autumn. The light of dawn arrives slightly later than usual. He will go near the gate and hide before the two show up.

With his plan in mind, Brinx sucks up his pride and asks a neighbor for food, just a small meal. They tell him they don't have much, but maybe enough for him to get to tomorrow. He said that was all he needed and thanked them. His hunger subsided. He quickly returned home and packed whatever he could into a worn pack. His other set of clothes, a pair of leather gloves. That was all that was of use to him. He put a knife in there, but it was just a shabby kitchen one that was slightly rusted. Won't do. He threw it back onto the wooden counter. Right next to it was a headband that he hadn't noticed before. He tied it over his forehead to keep his slightly long hair from covering his eyes. Remembering the knife, he realized he needed a weapon. Alryne was surrounded by an enormous, potentially dangerous forest, with only the ninja village Kurina the nearest establishment. He knows to stay away from it, as approaching it will cause unease to the ninjas.

Brinx looked around to find a suitable weapon. There is a small sword he found in the training field one day that seemed to be discarded, and had took it home in case of some emergency. Not that he's ever touched it since, though. It wasn't broken; far from it, in fact. It just must have been forgotten.

Brinx reaches under his bed and takes out the sword. He sets his shabby pack and sword beside the door and went to sleep. Rest was essential tonight, as he needed to wake up before dawn tomorrow.

Brinx awoke. He looked out the window, it was still dark. Perfect. He leaves his bed and gets dressed. He ties his boots tight, grabs his gear, and leaves the house quietly. Looking around carefully before stepping out onto the dirt path leading to the main part of the village, Brinx sees nobody and hears nothing. It's still quite early, as his tired eyes tell him so. But he shakes himself awake and heads for the gate. There is a perfect spot behind a large barrel to hide near the gate. The guards look tired, so he snuck behind it undetected. What do they have to guard this large, thick gate for, Brinx assumes they think. He's never seen or heard of any outsiders come to Alryne, except Sevrin, who was from Kurina. Well, duty is duty.

Brinx waits for the two to show up. They appear a few minutes later. Neal gets into an argument with a guard. A few more people come and they exchange a few words. The gate opens. Brinx's pulse increases rapidly. He breathes in and out excitedly, but slows it down to calm himself. The two men turn around and walk away. Neal sprints off with glee and Sevrin runs to catch up to him. The first guard left his station a few minutes ago for whatever reason. Only the young guard that was arguing with Neal remained by the gate. He starts to close the gate, but it's a slow process, as the doors are huge. Brinx grits his teeth; he's running out of time. But the guard starts to yawn. One of those big yawns where he closes his eyes tightly and looks up with his mouth wide open. Now! He treads quietly but quickly and dives through the crack as the gate slams shut right behind him. The huge wooden doors creaked loudly as they moved, since they were fairly old, and the sound of his footsteps were perfectly concealed. Brinx was lucky: he had slipped out successfully.

He picked himself back up quickly and dove into the bushes, in case Neal and Sevrin turned around to get a last look at the long wall surrounding the village. They probably wouldn't care if they saw me, Brinx thinks. But he wanted to be cautious anyways. He peeked out towards the path. They were gone. He decides to keep a good distance from the two, but follow them until they clear the forest, so he'll make it out too. Hopefully they don't get lost, he thinks, or else _he'd_ get lost. But he still starts tailing them anyways, despite the worry.

The forest was as large as he had heard from inside those walls. They were travelling for days now with nothing but the trees around them. The only lessons Brinx really paid attention to recently were survival lessons: how to make a fire, how to hunt, how to cook the prey you've hunted. He felt confident enough to survive in the forest. But if only he'd attended combat lessons, he thinks reluctantly. He was eyeing the sword by his waist, secured by his belt. Using it for defense didn't look promising, but at least he had it.

Brinx killed a small rabbit and cooked it over the fire he set. His spot was far away enough from those two kids that they wouldn't hear him. They stopped for the night and set up their camp, so he backtracked for a few minutes to create the safe distance. Brinx glanced at their tent before he left and wished he had one of his own. Damn, maybe he should have stolen one before he left. After a minute of thought, he shook his head. No way.

He pulls out a metal cup from his pack. That's one thing he was glad he added to the pack right before he left the house. It was the only utensil in that house that was in decent condition. The ninja was smart; he found a river and the two of them walked parallel to it, so they could have a secure supply of water.

Brinx scoops his cup into the water and brings it back to the fire. He decides to boil the water and let it cool down before drinking it, just in case.

He sits down and leans against a tree by his fire, and begins to shivers. It's quite cold in the wilderness at night, Brinx now realized. He adds his other set of clothes as another layer once again. A little better. He still wishes he had a tent, though. He eats his cooked rabbit meat and drinks water from his metal cup. Another day has passed. Maybe tomorrow would be the day when this damned forest will end. He curls up near the dying fire and tries to sleep. On the first night, Brinx realized that a wild animal could attack at any time, and he hardly slept. But nothing happened, and the same went for the second and third night. So he decided to just go to sleep without too much worry.

Morning came. Brinx awoke, wasting no time and setting off again. He walked quickly to try to catch up to the two kids. Luckily, he finds them again. They're walking fairly slowly, since they're carrying more gear than him. Plus, Brinx sees the huge sword on Neal's back. He is amazed the kid could even carry that thing on his back. He had always bragged to the other kids about how strong he was and that only he could wield that sword. Still a brat, Brinx thinks, but at least he has pride and determination, despite being poor and an orphan. Brinx respects him in that sense.

Eventually, he trails them to the end of the forest, where there was light! He waits for them to get farther ahead and out of range. Then he steps out of the foliage himself. With wonder, Brinx looks around the large clearing in front of him. Grassy plain, hills, and only a few trees. It was a refreshing new sight to Brinx. He lifted his hands up and sucked in a large breath of air. It felt incredible! Where would life take him? He wondered this as he continued on through fresh clearing. He must have branched off from Neal and Sevrin's path, as he doesn't hear them or see any signs of them anymore. Brinx wishes them luck on their journey. But now he had to think about himself. He took a long gander at his surroundings. It looks like this plain is large, he thinks, as there are no human establishments as far as his eyes can see in all directions. From here, any path seems plausible, but Brinx decided the best way to go would be in the exact opposite of the forest. No angles. Any slight angle might make him wind his way back to that good old forest. With the completely new surroundings and atmosphere, he didn't want to take any risks.

A few hours later Brinx was met by a huge surprise. A freakish creature about half his size was standing in front of him. It had dark, smelly skin and the rags it wore were torn and dirty. It was a goblin, although he didn't know what it was or that anything like that even existed at the time. The only thought in his mind was danger; it was carrying a knife. Rusty, but still a knife.

He stepped back cautiously, reaching shakily for the hilt of the small iron sword by his waist. He clumsily pulled it out and held it in front of him. Although it was very stupid, the monster noticed him and started stepping toward him. Brinx gulped and stepped back again, but he knew he needed to be able to protect himself. If anything, he's lucky his first obstacle is this little creature, and not some enormous giant in iron armor.

The goblin snarled at him, raising its knife and shaking it wildly toward Brinx, who was shakily standing his ground. It kept getting closer to him ever slowly. Brinx breathed in and out slowly, and charged at it. He swung the small blade as hard as he could, but he didn't know the first thing about swords, so he didn't cut the goblin but knocked it back. Brinx gritted his teeth. He realized how foolish he must have looked, attacking the monster with the flat side of the blade, rather than the sharp edge. Slash, not swing, he thought, and tried another attack. This one seemed to work. He sent it reeling back in pain. Blood soaked the torn rags on its chest and it yelped. Brinx slashed at it again. He killed it. He dropped his bloody sword onto the grass after watching the motionless creature on the ground carefully to make sure it was dead. Then he dropped to his knees and threw up. He killed something! Not an animal, but not a human either. Although, since the goblin somewhat represents a human, that's the way he thought of it, and it made him feel ill. He was terrified for a while after that. His hands were stained with blood from a kill he'd made. Although it was a hostile monsters blood, it was still blood. It wasn't until he made it to a new town that he realized it was not a big deal, and that he must get used to it.

Just a day after his encounter with the goblin, Brinx found a town. A large one, much bigger than Alryne. It was very different, too. There were roads made of cobblestone. The buildings were tall. There were signs that displayed Inn, Weapons, Armor, Food. Market stalls filled with fruits and vegetables. People walking everywhere in the town. Brinx was excited. It was overwhelming to take it all in. He started walking toward the market area, but realized he had no money. Damn. What then? He could ask them if they needed help in exchange for an apple or two. Something like that. He looked down at himself and realized he was a little dirty. His clothes made him look poor and homeless, not that he wasn't. They wouldn't want a kid like that near their stalls, so he needed to find a way to clean himself and be more presentable.

Someone told him there was a small stream right outside the north gate, so he walked that way. He passed the town square, where this strange round stone thing was spouting water. It looked pretty cool, but what was the point of it, Brinx wondered. Also, people were setting up these small stalls all throughout the town square. Something was going on. A fair tomorrow, someone told him when he asked. Gariland's annual fair celebrating its fine establishment for another peaceful year. So that's what the name of this town is, Brinx thinks. Gariland. But what the hell is a fair?

He walked through the square and to the northern side of Gariland. Outside the gate, which was already open, he found the stream. Finding a secluded spot, he splashed the water on himself, cleaning his hands, face, and body. He soaked his clothes in it and hung them over a tree branch to dry. Brinx waited until they finally were, then took of his other set of clothes and put those on. Then he washed that set of clothes and set them to dry. When that was finally finished, he returned to town.

Brinx walked by all of the shops, glancing at the items seen through the window. He saw many kinds of swords, clothes, jewels, and herbs. He wished he could replace his shabby gear with all of this new stuff. He returned to the market area, where those apples looked even more red and delicious. He stomach told him to hurry up. He approached the kind lady selling the produce.

"Do I need help? What a sweet young man. Oh my, your clothing is torn! I'll tell you what: if you help me sell some fruit to the townsfolk today I'll give you enough gil to get a new outfit and a room at the inn tonight." She said. Brinx thanked her graciously then turned away for a moment. He was a little embarrassed that she still noticed how ragged he looked even though he tried to clean up as best as he could. Whatever, he thought, and shrugged. Nobody knew him, and he doesn't need to care about something like that. You have to start somewhere.

He worked with the sweet young woman for hours that day, holding fruit in his hand and exchanging it for coin. At the end of the day, she called him over to her.

"Brinx, look at this! We did excellent today! Thanks for your help!" She smiled graciously at him. He nodded his head, giving her a small smile. She handed him a handful of the coins.

"This should be enough for you, sweetie. You deserve it." She handed him more gil than just a room and a new set of clothes. He tried to refuse that much, but she put it in his pocket. She knows just by the look of him how poor he was, and wanted to help him out. He thanked her again and set off to buy some new clothes. As he waved to her as she walked, she gave him a friendly departing wink. He blushed after he turned back around. She was in her early twenties, but she sure was cute!

Brinx bought a new tunic and pants. He kept the boots he was wearing, because they were given to him recently in Alryne so they were still good. He felt better already. He couldn't help but feel slightly ashamed to be in those ragged clothes from before, as everyone in Gariland seemed well off.

He bought a room at the Inn that night and slept better than he's ever had in a long time. The bed in the room was actually soft and comfortable, unlike his awful metal frame from Alryne. Not to mention the bad sleep during the days of getting out of the forest.

The next morning, Brinx awoke to music and lots of noise. He left the Inn to see the fair has begun. There were even more people in the square than yesterday, Brinx notices. The stalls that were being set up were now complete. He saw all of the colorful signs and unique wares in them, but decided not to shop. With the remaining gil he had, he wanted to buy a little bit of food, a tent, and save the rest. After looking around enough and enjoying the fair to some extent, Brinx buys some bread and apples and takes off toward the north gate. Someone told him there was a place called Rothguard up north when he asked where a place he could find work was.

As he was about to exit the north side of the square, where the last stalls of the fair was, he noticed a strange stall that sold something called cotton candy. He had no idea what it was, but it smelled sweet. He walked past it. Up ahead of him were a few people who were heading to the fair. A tall woman holding the hands of two children. One was a girl with brown hair, and the other, who was even younger than her, was a small red haired boy.

"Ooh! Cotton candy! That's my favorite!" Said the boy, and he tugged on the woman's arm as they pass him. Brinx turns and watches as the three of them get in line at the cotton candy stall. Then he sees Neal and Sevrin in front of them, as Neal turned around with a cotton candy and takes a gigantic bite into it. The brown haired girl giggles as they walk away. So they made it safely, thought Brinx. That's good. He turns back around and heads out the north gate.

There's a sign by the road that warns of monsters. Brinx nods at the sign. He's more ready than last time. His new clothes and victories over three more goblins boosted his confidence. He's feeling more confident now.

The sign was correct. More goblins littered the field ahead of Brinx. A little more than he expected. He decided to cut down only the ones that were necessary, as sticking around to finish them all off would only end up with them ganging up on him and mobbing him over.

Brinx ran through the field, swiftly dodging the goblins that he could easily avoid. Some, however, would intercept his path. He dashed forward, sword in hand, and struck them to the side. The slowness of the inept creatures prevented them from catching up to him, and he passed through the goblin field without a scratch.

Brinx found himself on an easy path now. There were no more monsters in sight. There was even a river to his right. It was getting dark, so he stopped for the night. The usual: a fire, his cup of water boiled first then cooled down to make sure the water is clean. But this time, Brinx feels luxurious with his food and tent as a nice upgrade to his camp. He eats some of his bread and turns in.

The next morning, Brinx packs up and continues down the path toward Rothguard. These next few days are similar to his first day leaving Gariland, although with less monsters. Brinx sees buildings up ahead. Rothguard? It must be, he thinks, and he dashes toward it. It felt weird being alone in the outdoors for the last few days. He was surprised there weren't any people traveling in carriages, commuting back and forth between Gariland and Rothguard. Not a soul except Brinx was on the road. Maybe he'll discover why when he reaches town.

Rothguard was very similar to Gariland. It wasn't as big, but it was just as well off. On the other side of town was a large castle atop a hill. Brinx had heard about castles in Alryne, so he knew there were castles and villages outside that forest. But the sight of the huge stone towers on each corner were more amazing than the words he'd heard describe it. The castle was huge! He found himself staring at it for awhile. Apparently, so did someone else.

"You've never seen the castle before?" A man with a booming voice said behind him. Brinx turned around. The man looked him up and down. "Hmm…" He placed his hand under his chin and squinted his eyes, as if he was analyzing Brinx. "You're not from around here. I can tell. What's a kid like you doing here?" He asked. Brinx noticed the man was wearing a shiny suit of armor, with a crest that looked the same as the flag of the castle.

Brinx told him he was looking for work, to earn some coin. The huge knight raised an eyebrow.

"Ah… Strapped for funds? You look like a strong kid. Solid constitution." The knight said. He looked toward the castle, and Brinx did the same. Then he turned back toward Brinx.

"How would you like to become a soldier?"

* * *

 **AN: Hello! This is a side story to my original story "Final Fantasy: Golden Warriors of the Light", featuring all original characters and very different from the early FF games, but drawing many elements from them. If you want to pick this one up, I'd recommend reading the main one first if you want (It's quite long, though), but reading this one first might make the first one more interesting. It follows Brinx, a boy who originates from Alryne, just like Neal from the previous story. His path may cross with Neal's a few times, but the story is of** _ **his**_ **journey. It won't be as long as the first one, maybe seven chapters maximum, and I will update weekly, maybe biweekly sometimes, depending on my free time during this summer. I hope you enjoy!**


	2. Quest Two: Dana and Brinx

**Quest Two: Dana and Brinx**

"How'd the recruiting go, Sir Wallard?" An officer asks.

"Swell. I found plenty of adults, one teen." Wallard replies.

"Teen? How old?"

"Mm… I'd say about sixteen by the looks of 'im." Wallard says. The soldier's eyes widen.

"S-Sir! The boy's too young! We're just in need of volunteers to fend off these ragtag monsters! The only time we'd need to draft a teen his age would be if we're at _war!_ " The soldier says.

"Hey may be too young to become a _knight_ , but not a soldier, lad." He replies, squinting at him with seniority. "Besides," He stepped closer. "Take a look at the kid. He's a little thin, but he looks tough. If we gain him a few pounds and give him proper training, he'd make a fine soldier to me."

The two of them took a look at Brinx, who pretended not to notice they were staring at him. Ever since he followed Wallard with a group of men to the castle, he's been constantly stared at.

"Yeah, look at that expression on his face. Completely solid. Not cold, but mean. Kid must have been through a lot." The soldier says. "Well, he's perfectly capable, at least I'd say so too. He's got no where else, you say?"

Wallard nodded. "Well, I guess life here is better than on the streets."

And for Brinx, it was. He had better things now. A bed. A shower. Food. Water. But most importantly, training. The first few days of training Brinx absorbed as much knowledge as he could. He went the full one hundred percent during his combat training. He was overwhelmed by his discovery of the existence of magic.

When the evening came for his first three days of training, Brinx hurried to the Combat Magic and Healing Wards to watch the black and white mages practice their spells.

"What?! You've never seen magic before? Unbelievable…" They would say. They'd ask him where he was from. But he wouldn't tell them, though.

Only three days after he was recruited was the day of their mission. The reason why he was recruited in the first place. The day that Rothguard would finally drive back the horde of monsters invading from the north.

"But they're barely new recruits! Just adding numbers means nothing if they don't have any skills or proper training!" An officer tried to convince Wallard. But Wallard only shook his head, with a solemn look.

"Orders from higher up…" Was all he could say. Despite his rank, Wallard couldn't refuse an order from the Royal Court. "Even Vyncent and Wymond are going to the front lines tonight."

"It's come to that…? I feel a little safer with them on the field, but all of these recruits…" The officer turned and took a look at Brinx and the other men.

"Let's march!" Wallard commanded. He led the group of untrained, shaky recruits up to the wastelands. They arrived when the moon started shining.

"There…" Wallard said. The soldiers were atop a hill, finally emerging from the prickly forest. Down below, they could see the battle. Knights and soldiers alike were clashing against monsters of various shapes and sizes. Teeth. Claws. Wings. Scales. Tails. Fangs. Thorns. All of those were against the steel of sword and might of the Rothguard Army.

"Reinforcements!" They heard soldiers shouting down below. There were roars from the men. With the sight of more men coming to aid, their morale was raised. They were still outnumbered though, even with the reinforcements.

"Let us join the fray and aid our battalion!" Wallard shouted, and the soldiers began rushing downhill. Brinx struggled to keep up. He was unfortunate to be in the very front of the group as they stumbled down the hill. He needed to keep his balance in the set of light armor given to him and run fast enough not to be trampled over.

Brinx reached the bottom of the hill and fell face forward into the snow. He quickly heaved himself to the side to avoid being ran on. He needed to get accustomed to this armor quickly. Training in it is one thing, but moving quickly in it was another.

He leapt up, catching his breath, which was visible in the cold night air. He pulled out his sword, which was the same slim blade meant for a child that he found in the field. Armor was plentiful for the grunts, but weapons were hard to come by, according to the officers.

What could this puny blade do against these creatures, Brinx thinks. These monsters were a step up, maybe even two, from the goblins. He wondered if he was really able to do this.

"Brinx! Get it together! Go forth with your blade in hand!" An older kid from his training group shouted. "They may outnumber us, but we're superior in skill! Cut them all down!"

Brinx started following him, and they charged into battle. Brinx was met with the gruesome sight of the kid being immediately gashed open by the vicious thorns of a giant plant. Horrified, he had to jump back to avoid the bloody corpse fall onto him. It landed onto the snow, and his eyes were wide open, looking straight up at him.

Brinx gulped, shook his head, and swung his sword at the plant creature. He created a thin slit into the monster's thick green stem, but that was it. The head of the monster slowly turned toward Brinx. Brinx scrambled backward out of its range as quickly as possible.

"What the hell is with these damned things!?" Brinx heard a knight shout nearby. "They're abnormally strong… They must be under someone's influence!" That was the last thing that knight said before his armor was ripped apart and blood spilled out.

Someone's influence? Someone… A group of people… controlling these monsters? Brinx wonders. Last night, as he was observing the black mages, he heard a few of them talking about dark magic, and how the sheer numbers of the invading monsters being organized is unnatural. Could there be a connection between dark mages and this madness? A million thoughts a minute flood through Brinx's mind..

The fight continued on for hours. Brinx saw soldiers and knights either exhausted or dying to either of his side. It all seemed hopeless. Every soldier from the makeshift camp set up between the castle and the battlefield had joined the battle, with hardly any effect in the current outcome. This was now the final line of defense for the castle.

The mages were running out of energy. The amount of healers per group of soldiers were dropping, or becoming more and more insignificant. Wounds were not being tended to anymore.

Brinx heard more grunts and cries of pain.

But then there was a shift in morale again. A healer appeared where Brinx was fighting. She was young, younger than him. Brown hair, white robe. She began healing the fallen soldiers back to normal in an instant. She even brought the fallen white mages back to their feet. She was a savior to all of the injured where Brinx was fighting.

"Let me help you!" She said. She placed her staff over a soldier on his knees. The orb glowed a bright green, and the soldier's wounds closed up. Rothguard was winning now. Monsters were being slain three times as fast as before.

"Who… are you?" He asked.

"Mirabelle. A white mage." She said, but quickly left to tend to others. Eventually Brinx found her looking right at him.

"I can take care of that for you." She said. He completely forgot that his leg was cut. He was watching her magic in awe; he didn't even know he had fallen to his knee. Mirabelle placed her staff over his leg, and that ambient green light flowed into him. The pain from his cut vanished. Brinx stood up. So did she, and she looked up at him. She was short. He thanked her. She nodded and continued tending to wounded soldiers.

Suddenly, the earth started shaking. Huge footsteps pounded the ground, coming closer and closer to the lines. "No… It couldn't be…" Brinx heard. "It's… the Iron Giant!" The enormous beast clad in thick armor slammed its giant foot down into the snow, crushing six monsters completely. Most of the few remaining creatures scattered off.

It's futile… Brinx thinks. We're done for. The giant blade it wields is the size of two grown men. It's glowing yellow eyes were menacing. It looked angry. There was a command to prepare the final line of defense. Soldiers and knights raised their shields and created a wall. The giant stopped in front of the wall, staring at the condensed line of puny shields. It slowly began to raise its massive blade to strike. Brinx was looking up as high as he could in order to see it. Snow kept falling into his eyes, but he dared not blink. He was wedged in between two knights, being shielded by the edges of both of their shields.

Brinx started to panic. What a horrible idea, he was screaming in his head. Why condense into one singular unit like this? The shields won't block this massive attack. We're only doing it a favor by crowding together like this… More of us to kill in one attack.

The blade began to fall. It was immensely slow at first, but gaining speed rapidly. An insane amount of momentum was building into this attack. Brinx tried to push one one of the knights to get him to move, but he was frozen in fear. They needed to clear out of the area where the blade was coming down, and quick! Brinx nudged him again, finally making him move to the right. Screams could be heard as the blade finally smashed into the snow. The wind from the attack sent snow everywhere and men reeling backwards. Brinx narrowly avoided the blade. He could feel the impact of the breeze, as it pushed him into the other knight with a lot of force. Luckily, he was bracing himself for it. He stood up and shook off the snow. While the giant was trying to pull the blade out of the earth, a couple of brave soldiers took this as an opportunity to attack. Brinx even tried a few times to slash at its big iron boot with his tiny sword. It only created clangs and sparks, though. No effect.

Brinx suddenly heard screaming. No, roaring coming from a familiar voice. He turned around to see Neal with his huge blade high and his eyes looking to kill. He, along with the other soldiers in his path jumped out of the way. Neal leapt into the air and screamed something as he swung his blade into the giant as hard as he could. Power was emanating from the blade, as it was glowing. He created a huge gash in the armor.

"That… was the Guard Breaker attack!" Brinx heard. He was surprised. Shortstack Neal Faris packed a punch. He still could hardly believe Neal could wield that huge sword. He remembers the day when Neal pulled that blade out of the rock. He was always bragging to his peers, saying nobody but he could lift it, since everyone else was so weak compared to him. Brinx didn't give a damn about that, but he didn't like that someone younger and shorter than him was assuming he was weak. Someone dared Brinx to try to lift it; he happened to be walking by. The sword was lying flat on the ground. He grabbed the hilt with both of his hands and heaved it. He managed to shakily lift it enough for just a moment that it was completely off of the ground before dropping it and walking away. Behind him, he heard Neal say it was only because he was older and taller. He heard his friend Sevrin laugh.

"What are you waiting for?! It's vulnerable now! Finish it off!" Neal shouted. Then he walked off. The soldiers snapped back into reality, and everyone started pushing and shoving to start doing some damage onto the open wound, like idiots. Brinx backed out of the cluster of them to avoid being trampled on. Soon enough, the Iron Giant staggered backwards, and slowly fell onto the ground, creating a huge boom. What seemed to be its body dissolved from the inside, leaving huge chunks of armor clanking into each other and burying into the snow.

"Hey, we can salvage that, right?!" A soldier excitedly ran over toward the huge pile of iron. "Melt it down and make some weapons, eh?"

"Yeah! Let's drag this heap all the way back up the hill! Totally worth it!" Another said.

A high ranking knight raised his sword high, declaring victory. The exhausted soldiers cheered. Victory was theirs. But Brinx wasn't convinced. It seemed that the surviving black mages had gathered together and started talking. Brinx walked over to listen.

"That was totally abnormal, right? I'm not crazy here?" One asked. The others agreed.

"There was definitely dark magic involved. I know it. Monsters don't group together like that. Iron Giants usually dwell on the other side of the _continent_. Not once in a blue moon would you see one stompin' around in Isthal…"

"We need to report this to the Royal Court- no, King Edywn! But we should focus on returning to the castle first… Treat the wounded."

The black mages agreed, and scattered to assist the white mages in carrying injured soldiers and dropped gear. The night dragged on forever as the Army trekked back to the castle. The wounded and the exhaustion made everyone feel heavier. But the tired warriors and mages returned to Rothguard safely. The knights told the soldiers to deliver the iron to the blacksmiths, and get rest. Besides delivering crucial news to the kingdom, everything will be dealt with in the morning.

What they didn't know was that they were being watched as they hiked off with fatigue. Hidden in the brush and trees a safe distance away from the soldiers were a group of people in dark robes. Two girls. Silver hair. Purple eyes. A few men, but only one of them stood out. He had the black hood pulled over his face, but his face was only darkness. Only his eyes could be seen, which were bright white. No pupils.

"And there they go…" The taller and older silver haired girl said. "What a show… Wouldn't you agree, Lord Alastor?"

The man grinned menacingly. "Yes… Controlling all of those fiends took quite a toll, but now we know their limit. It may take some time, but we must organize the rest guild to start the war. Rothguard is the key point to taking over Isthal. Our army of dark mages and monsters alike will be unstoppable. The age of dark magic will return once again…"

"Dana, draw an incantation circle around us. We need to teleport back to the guild." The older silver haired girl said to the younger.

"Why me, sis? I'm no good at drawing those. They're complex…" She replied.

"We are all drained of magical energy from using those monsters for so long. You have all of yours, since you can only use white magic." She told her. When she said white magic, she said it with a bit of an edge, as if disappointed in her sister's abilities.

"Sorry I wasn't born with dark magic in my blood…" Dana remarked sulkily. But she grabbed a stick and started drawing the circle in the snow. It wasn't perfect, but good enough. The dark mages honed their remaining power into an orb in the center of the circle, which created a thin beam into the air. They vanished from the circle.

Brinx slumped into his small bed in the barracks, as well as the soldiers in the room he shared with them. The rush of adrenaline in the battle took a toll on his energy, maybe even his sanity. He fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.

The next morning, Brinx visited the blacksmiths and watched them haul the iron plates into the blazing furnaces. He watched them begin to forge some nice looking blades with the molten, melted iron.

"Ah, Brinx." One of the blacksmiths said. "It pleases me to find someone interested in the art of swordmaking. Since you're here, I'll give you the first sword I finish. Show me your current sword, so I can forge it to proper specifications."

Brinx unsheathed his shabby blade, which was now damaged greatly from the battle. "Bah! What a cheap, puny stick of iron!" The blacksmith scoffed at the sight of it. "Must have been tough on you, kid, having to use such a meager weapon. It's just like having to wear boots three sizes too small! I'll make your sword the perfect size."

Brinx excitedly watched the man hammer the metal on the anvil until it was finished. The blacksmith even engraved Brinx's name on the hilt. He proudly accepted the sword when it was ready. He held it high. It felt much heavier, but that was good, since his old weapon felt much too light. The beautiful blade was longer, thicker, and more importantly, sharper.

Ever since that battle, Brinx remained a soldier at Rothguard Castle, for about four years. However, they were met with peace during this time, so the number of soldiers dropped significantly. The majority of men who were recruited along with Brinx, let alone _survived,_ had left the castle as quickly as they could. They were done with fighting. They wanted to return to their homes and families. But Brinx remained. He wanted to hone his skills, get stronger, figure out what his next step was. He became a guard, as it was his only option. It was boring, but easy. He attended much more training than the standard for guards. His fellow guards said he was trying to weasel his way into becoming a knight, a higher-up, but Brinx said that wasn't true.

It was during sometime in the second year as a guard when Brinx first saw Dana. He was off duty that day, and was walking in the busy town square of Rothguard when he noticed her. She was moving quickly, weaving through the crowd. She was looking around to each side a lot, as if looking for something or someone. Her bright, silver hair made her stand out to Brinx. She disappeared out of his sight, but a few moments later he was suddenly knocked down from behind.

"Oof!" He heard. He stood and turned around. It was her. Now that she was this close, he got a good look at her face. She had beautiful pale skin and deep purple eyes. He could never forget that first time he looked into those eyes.

"Oh my… I'm so clumsy! Sorry about that!" She said, standing up back up before he could even say anything, she ran off.

Everything was normal for the next two years. But after that, his life began to change. First, he saw Neal return to the kingdom. He had become a knight for some strange reason, and a high ranked one at that. But he came and went, only staying for short periods of time. Brinx didn't understand his situation, as he was only a guard. He just didn't know why he had his own division if he wasn't there to command it.

But most importantly, during that second year, he met Dana again. _Met_ , not bumped into. It was a hazy night. His fellow guards were in town and at the bar, drinking and having a grand time. But as Brinx was the youngest guard, he was freshly eighteen, not yet old enough to drink. He was hanging around outside to get them all back to the castle without anyone passing out when they were finished. Brinx saw a shady character run toward an alley, so he walked over to investigate. As soon as he turned the corner, he felt a sharp pain at the back of his head. His vision became blurry, his consciousness fading. He managed to turn around to see who it was. A petty thief, Brinx assumed, who was holding a broken glass bottle. He looked paranoid, as if he had stolen something earlier and was being pursuited. But he had the wrong guy, and the thief took off. Brinx felt warm blood starting to run down the back of his neck, and fell face first onto the ground. His vision turned to black.

From what he could remember, he was slipping in and out of consciousness. He couldn't move. His head hurt too much. But every once in a while, he opened his eyes, seeing nothing but the cobblestone road he was lying on. But there was a shadow behind him, as the light coming from the street lamp nearby faded a bit. He heard a woman's voice. "Oh… Oh my… are you… alright?" He blacked out again.

When he awoke, he felt better. The pain in his head now only felt like a minor headache, not a gash. He also felt someone resting their head on his back. He carefully turned around, without making the person fall onto the ground. He saw the silver hair again. The girl he saw in town square a while ago. It was the exact same situation again, except she was asleep and they were in an alley. Ugh, thought Brinx, what a creepy situation they were in. He imagined what people who walked by and noticed them thought. He didn't even know what happened himself.

He picked her up and walked out of the alley. He brought her into the Inn and rented a room. The Innkeeper was concerned, asked if she was alright. He said she was just tired. He just needed to get her onto a bed. In the room, Brinx placed her on the bed, along with a cool rag on her forehead. Then he left the room and sat against the wall by the door. His head was pounding. He decided he would try to sleep off his headache and ask her about everything later. It was still early morning.

Brinx awoke to see her standing next to him. She was rubbing her eyes, and struggling to keep her balance. She still looked weak. Brinx jumped up quickly and caught her before she fell over. He brought her back to the room and sat her down on the bed.

"Ungh… Thanks…" She said. "I'm sorry I'm so clumsy." He asked her if she was okay. She nodded. He asked her what had happened.

"I… saw you last night in that alleyway. You were bleeding in the back of your head quite badly, so I wanted to help. I'm a white mage, so I healed your wound. But… I had used up all of my magic energy in training yesterday, so I wasn't supposed to use any magic until I regained my strength."

Brinx apologized for the situation he dragged her into, but she said it was okay. "A nice boy helped me out in return, so what's a girl to complain about?" She said and smiled. But she suddenly had to go, so he offered to walk her home. She said it was okay, she was feeling better. She didn't live in town, she told him.

She thanked him for helping her out, and took off. Brinx watched her walk away, disappointed he couldn't talk to her any longer. But she said she'd like to meet him again, so she told him she'd be in the town square a week from today at this time, and she wanted to see him again. He couldn't wait. Damn, he thought, should've asked for her name. Eh, he can do it next time.

So the next week finally came, and he hurried to the square as soon as he could from the castle. There she was, wearing her pretty green robe, sitting on a bench. When she saw him, she stood up quickly and waved.

"Hi!" She shouted, and he joined her by the bench. "I forgot to ask what your name was!" He told her his name. "Brinx… what an interesting name. I'm Dana!" She gave him a friendly smile.

They chatted a lot that day, at the bench. He told her why he was face first in that dump last week, and she gasped and covered her mouth.

"A thief smashed a glass bottle into the back of your head?! How awful… Are you feeling better?" She had said. He told her he was a guard at Rothguard Castle, and when he told her that, the brightness of her face fell for a moment. "O-oh… A guard at the castle, huh…" She looked sad for a moment, but shook it off and returned to being cheerful. He asked her if she was a white mage in the healer ward at the castle, as he's never seen her before, but she said no. She didn't tell him where she was from, giving a vague answer that she lived with her sister in an isolated home off in the wild near town. Then she asked Brinx about himself. Where was he from? Had he always been a guard at the castle? Brinx couldn't tell her where he was from, though. What goes around, comes around?

"Hey! Are you just saying that just because I didn't tell you where I'm from?" She pouted. But he told her no. Fair enough, she said. "You're so mysterious, Brinx… though I guess I'm just the same, hehe!"

They visited each other every week from then on, meeting in town by that bench. They would eat, shop, and stroll through town together. Every week felt different and magical to Brinx. But she would only be around for that day, and leave early the next morning. Besides being with Brinx, she would bring back supplies to her home. Those were the reasons she came to Rothguard each week, but she just wouldn't tell him any more about her home besides that.

Soon enough, they fell in love. Dana had always rented a room at the Inn each night, but Brinx would say goodbye and come see her off in the morning. She asked him not to follow her secretly to see where she would go, because Brinx loved her so much that he might be tempted to do that and she knew it. He respected her request, though, and headed back toward the castle right after saying goodbye. That made her happy, and she would immediately miss him and long for him.

But then they started to rent the room together, and sleep with each other. Although they would kiss and embrace one another, they would never make love. One time they came close, though. Dana was all over him, and he started to lower his hand down her back. But she backed off, breathing heavily and pushing him away. He let her go. "Not… yet…" She said, but sounded disappointed, as if she really wanted to. She felt a bit of regret that he let go of her in the heat of the moment, but that was what she had decided.

Most nights were the same; they would be together for the entire day and sleep together at night, and they were both happy and giddy. Some nights, she would be angry, and he would ask her what was wrong. She said she was just upset with her older sister, that was all. Some nights she would be ecstatic to see him, more than usual. Very long days, she would say. She missed him more than ever that week while they were apart. A few nights, Brinx was exhausted, having long shifts that day or brutal training. Brinx is tired, she would say with a smile, and he would lay his head on her shoulder and sleep like a baby. She would run her fingers slowly through his hair, and fall asleep with her arms and legs around him. Maybe I'll leave a little bit later tomorrow, she thought on those nights.

One day Dana didn't show up, and Brinx was depressed for the entire week. It's over, he thought, she left him, they couldn't spend enough time together, she found someone else. It was pathetic, but Brinx loved her that much. But the week after, he was sitting on the bench in the square with his head down, and he heard running. He looked up and saw her running at him with her arms outstretched. She jumped into his arms and said she was so sorry, that she tried her best but couldn't make it that time. Brinx's heart melted and he said it was okay, and he missed her so much. A few weeks later, much to Brinx's dismay, he was forced to stay at the castle on their day, as a royal guest was visiting and the guards needed to be in position everywhere during their stay. He was gripping the hilt of his sword tightly the entire shift, wanting only to ditch the armor and visit his Dana. She must be waiting down there, he thought. But the guards were let off late that night, and Brinx ran to their spot in Rothguard. She wasn't there. She didn't go to the Inn that night either. God Damnit!

The week after that, Brinx went to their bench, expecting her not to have shown up, but there she was. Her eyes were watering when she saw him, and she started bawling when he ran up and hugged her. Brinx hated when she cried. She sounded truly hurt and despondent when she did. He explained why he couldn't come, and she choked on her tears. She thought her Brinx hated her and was finished with her. She told him she cried every night since then. He told her he loved her and would never leave her like that.

Then Brinx asked her once if their situation would ever change, where they could be together _always_ , not just once a week. She looked up at the ceiling of their room in the Inn, and pondered that for a moment. "Someday it will…" She said. "Someday, I'll make my Brinx happy."

After that night, though, Dana never came back. He had known her for eight months now, having been with her just about every week during that time, so he began to worry. It's been two, three, four weeks. Then months. An entire year has passed now. Something happened to her, and he needed to rescue her, but couldn't find an opportunity to leave without raising suspicion. Despite this, Brinx was prepared to- no, was _going_ to quit his service to Rothguard Castle to look for her, even if it brought consequences. He couldn't bear the thought of losing her forever. But then something happened that altered this decision.


	3. Quest Three: Fateful Encounter

**Quest Three: Fateful Encounter**

"Dana… Come here. I want to talk to you…"

Dana was trying to subtly slip out of the fortress, like usual, but her sister Layla was expecting her by the back door to the fortress. Dana's hand was on the doorknob, but she didn't turn it. Instead, she turned to the left, where Layla was waiting in a chair with her arms crossed.

"Hello, sis." She said with a bright smile, although it may have been her gritting her teeth from being stopped.

"Where do you keep going every week?" She asked.

Straight to the point huh, sister… Dana thought, but she knew where this was going. Not today… Not on her day to see Brinx. Any other day than that... "Oh, you know… To town each week for supplies and some shopping."

"We already receive our food and supplies from a separate source, Dana…" Layla said, sounding like a mother scolding her child. "And there's no need for shopping. Plus the enemy is literally right next to that town. I'm sure there are guards or spies lurking in Rothguard that represent the castle."

"I don't wear my _dark_ robe when I go, sis…" Dana replied. "Nobody knows anything about me, or here."

"Are you sure about that?" Layla raised an eyebrow.

"Yes."

"You don't have any… _personal_ relationships with anybody there, do you?" Layla sounded very suspicious of her, as if she definitely knew something. Dana was sweating now.

"O-Of course not. Why would you ask that?" Dana said.

Layla stood up, and started walking behind her. "Well… I heard you say something very peculiar last night… Do you know what I had heard?"

"What…?"

"You said, 'I miss _him_.' Who's 'him', sister?"

Dana's eyes widened. She thanked the stars she didn't say Brinx's name aloud when her sister was eavesdropping. If she did, Layla would find a way to make Brinx disappear from existence right under everyone's noses. Assassination. Real clean. Set up to look like a realistic accident. The dark mages are intent on keeping their guild's location a secret. It's hard enough to keep watch around the perimeter with the constant snowstorm that constrains vision and focus.

"Hm?" Layla said. Dana gulped.

"Nobody. No one."

"Do you have a boyfriend in Rothguard, Dana?"

"A-And if I do?" Dana asked shakily.

"Then _end_ it." She said sternly. "That's too risky and you know it. It will never work, either. You're in a completely different world. What if the fool was so lovestruck over you that he follows you here without knowing?"

Brinx wouldn't do that! Dana thought, clenching her fists. He respects my wishes and I respect his!

"How long?" Layla asked.

"A… few months." Dana answered. It was a lie, actually much longer, but maybe it would make this situation a little better.

"You're not going back to Rothguard." Layla said. Tears started welling up in Dana's eyes.

"No! You can't force me to stay here! Everything was fine the way it was! Nobody knows anything!" She protested. Layla shook her head and turned away. "You may be older, but you're only my _sister_! You can't tell me what to do… I'm an adult too."

"I'll hear no more rebuttal." Layla walked toward the hallway, but stopped at the door. Without looking back at Dana, she said, "I'm doing this for you... sister." Then she left the room.

Yeah right, Dana thinks, I'm just a nuisance to you. You just want to get rid of a potential threat to the guild's secrecy…

Dana was stuck at the fortress now, as when Layla makes up her mind like that, she knew she was powerless against her. Layla would do everything within her power to not let Dana go back to Rothguard anymore. And she did. For an entire year, at that. It wasn't until Dana was nineteen when she saw her Brinx again.

Castle Rothguard. Present time. A guard rushed through the open doors of the soldiers' barracks and into one of the rooms. Brinx and his fellow guards were inside.

"Did you hear what the knights were discussing in their meeting?!" He said. They were slightly mischievous, Those guards he shared a room in the barracks with. They liked to listen in on knights' conferences any chance they could.

"Yeah! That invasion of monsters a few years ago was controlled by dark mages! I knew our mages were right!" Another said. Brinx, who was sitting on his bed, looking down and depressed, perked up when he heard that. His hunch from then was right. He leaned forward, paying close attention to them now.

"They sent that kid Neal up in those wastelands to investigate a while ago, and he found their fortress! There's an entire guild of 'em! It must have been them who took control of all of those damned creatures and attacked us! He heard plans of them gathering their power for another invasion that will take place a week from today, but I'm not sure if I believe that."

"What?! Why haven't we been told about this? The last time Sir Neal was here at the castle was _months_ ago! _That_ was when he discovered this information?!"

"Yes, but they don't want anyone else to know yet. They want to discuss it with the captains and his Majesty to formulate a solid plan."

"That's bullshit. It wouldn't take us this long to set a course of action. What if they decided to attack sooner than planned? If they were just discussing that amongst themselves that long ago, their plans could have easily changed! Gods, we have no idea who those creeps really are and their motives…" He sounded nervous.

"I say we go and investigate. Bring back some _confirmed_ information." The first one said.

Everyone looked at him. The guard had a stern and serious look in his eyes.

"No way… We'd get punished by the knights for sneaking off like that. And what if we get caught and they capture or kill us? That'd be a _catalyst_ to start a full fledged war… Dark mages from all over the continent would gather and kill us all off..."

"I'd say it's worth going through the trouble. If we're careful, we might intercept them and save the entire kingdom from a surprise attack. Wouldn't you agree, Brinx?"

Brinx nodded. What if Dana was captured by these dark mages? She has to live at least somewhere close by Rothguard. The dark guild isn't too far from the castle either. What if she was snatched up while she was on the way to town to see him?

"I'm definitely going. Who's in?" The guard asked. Some shook their heads. One said he was going too. They turned toward Brinx. "Brinx, will you join us?" Brinx said he will.

The three of them snuck off that night without being detected by the night guards. They knew the layout well. They slipped into the woods that separated Rothguard from the snowy field.

As they walked, one of them noticed the sullen expression on Brinx's face. "Aw, cheer up, would ya Brinx? It's been a year now since your girl left ya… It's time to move on, no?"

Brinx sighed. He didn't know the answer to that himself. He could never forget Dana, ever. But their situation grew more and more hopeless as the days passed on. Nobody he knows has any idea of her whereabouts.

Soon enough, the stone fortress was in sight. The moon was full tonight, but hidden behind the snow clouds covering the sky. But it was enough light to see the guild from a safe distance.

"Damn… There it is." One of the guards whispered. "Sends a chill down my spine, and not because of the snow."

"Let's get closer, see if we can hear anything."

Brinx followed them, step by step, until they reached the back wall. They inched toward an open window. They were right under it now. Brinx's heart was pounding. One wrong move, and they'd be in trouble.

"Lord Alastor… We have enough power now, right? Has the time finally come?" A woman's voice, sounding vaguely familiar somehow to Brinx.

"Almost, Layla… This last week is all we need to gather our energy. Our power will completely overwhelm them. The first phase will be complete." His malicious voice was quite intimidating. "You will destroy them with all of your power, won't you Layla? I need you in order to rise to power over that fool Aiden..."

"Yes, anything for you… Lord Alastor." The woman named Layla replied. "Let us resume first in the morning."

Brinx looked over at his comrades. One of them mouthed _It's time to get outta here!_ and they all agreed. They crept back to the safety of the trees. Brinx stopped, and his eyes widened. The other two turned back.

"What?" They whispered. He pointed to the tracks they left in the snow. The other two guards gritted their teeth. That would've been careless to leave tracks in the open field. They backtracked and smeared their tracks the best they could to make the snow they walked on blend back in with the surroundings. The snow over the field wasn't perfectly level everywhere, so they did a good job of messing it up to look natural. After that was done, they hightailed it back to the castle.

It was morning by the time they arrived. The guards watching the back side of the castle shouted with alarm and pointed their lances and swords at the three of them until they discovered who they were. The three of them explained to the guards what they did and what they heard, and rushed inside to let the others know too.

"What?! The three of you runts snuck off to the fortress last night?!" The scary captain named Vyncent sought them out directly when he heard the news. One of the guards told him that the dark mages have been gathering dark energy all of this time, and are confirmed to attack the kingdom in one week's time. He didn't care about them sneaking off anymore.

"Hmph… So they really have been doing that. I had feared not, but the evidence of all of that snow says otherwise." The guards were confused. "Do you lads know why the wastelands up there are always cold?" They shook their heads. "Those mages have been drawing all of the natural energy from the land to increase their own power. Sucking the life out of the earth, yes. That first attack with the monsters must have been a test to gauge our power…"

"Were… the wastelands normal once before?" A guard asked him. "'Cause all my life they've been that way. Those mages have been gathering power for that long?"

Vyncent shook his head. "Well, yes and no… It has always been bleak and frigid, but not as dry and lifeless as it is today. There is an unknown force up there, completely separate from the dark mages, that has forever damned the earth. But nobody knows what it really is. But enough of that! I'm going to report to his Majesty. You three return to your posts! We will inform you of your next objectives soon enough!"

Brinx and the other two guards saluted him, saying "Sir!" in unison, and he turned away. They returned to the barracks and breathed heavy sighs of relief.

"Whew… I thought we were dead!" One of them said. "We got lucky! I thought the captain would have our _hides_!"

"No matter… That's not what we need to worry about right now. Another gruesome battle with the dark mages is upon us. And this time, we're _actually_ against them…"

A few days later, Neal returned to the kingdom, with his three friends. The guards were told that Neal's friends were very special guests, and will be considered like royalty. Brinx heard about their feats. They were growing quite famous in Rothguard, upon common folk's discovery that Neal is an officer in the Royal Court.

They arrived at the castle gate late that morning, and Brinx and another guard saluted them as they entered. There was that girl Mirabelle again, the short girl who healed him in the first battle. Still a shortie, Brinx thinks, but she's much cuter now. He also sees the red-haired one, Midahn. The youngest of the group, a black mage. Little did Brinx know how smart that kid was until later, as he would prove himself a genius tactician. There was Sevrin too. Brinx didn't know much about him, as he didn't speak much, but Brinx spoke much less anyways. He looked intimidating behind his mask, only being able to see his fierce eyes.

And there was Neal, too. Brinx noticed he was acting differently lately than the battle of the monster invasion. He was no longer loud and upright, but stern and dismal. Maybe his lover disappeared from his life too, Brinx thinks, but they're younger still; maybe not the case.

The plan was simple: We'll surprise them before they surprise us. March right up to their fortress. Confront them right away, defeat them right where and when they least expect it.

"Hey! You! Yeah, you! You're coming with us!" A knight yelled into the hallway of the soldiers' barracks.

"Go, Brinx. Don't keep the man waiting."

Brinx was confused. One of the knights was personally looking for a grunt. He thought it was about the stealth mission, but there was no time to deal with that. Everyone was preparing for the upcoming battle. But he didn't question it, and hurried to join the knight.

"Although you're just one of the guards, you're skill has been recognized in training. You're joining us on the front lines." He said. Brinx nodded and followed him closely. They entered a room full of knights.

"He's here? Okay, we leave now!" Vyncent said, and they filed out the door, which led to the outside of the back of the castle. There, the rest of the guards had assembled.

"Half of the guards will stay here and defend the rear of the castle! If we, the main force, are overwhelmed, we will retreat to the forest, where the other half will be. Two lines of defense, understand?"

"Sir!" All the guards shouted in unison.

"Knights and soldiers will make way for the front line. We'll review the plan once more as we approach the fortress. Move out!"

The knights and soldiers, along with Brinx, head toward the northern wastelands once again. It was late in the evening by the time the fortress appeared in sight. Rothguard halted.

"Armored knights… get in position. If our information is correct, they're going to begin their 'invasion' at any moment. Create the blockade." Vyncent commanded.

With difficulty, the heavily armored knights trudged through the snow and positioned themselves in a long line of defense along the snowy field in front of the fortress. The royal knights stood behind them, with the black and white mages next. The remaining knights and soldiers took the rear of the front for defense and back up. Impressive strategy, Brinx thinks. Despite his age, that fiery mage Midahn was very bright.

"We're ready for 'em…" Brinx heard someone say nearby, but the man sounded nervous. Brinx was almost at the very front, crouched right behind the armored knights, near the center of the line.

"Hm? What's a guard doing up here?" Brinx turned to his left to see Neal glancing his way in the near distance.

"That's Brinx, Neal. He's skilled and capable enough to fight with us on the front. Wallard, his recruiter, recommended him to join the front." Vyncent told him.

"Sounds good to me." Neal said. Huh. Brinx felt honored to be recommended to join the front, but a little pissed when a kid younger than him didn't really sound impressed. No time for that though, Brinx thinks. This could potentially be war here.

After a few minutes, the door to the stronghold was starting to open, and everyone tightened their grips on their weapons and focused on the fortress. Here it begins…

They saw only darkness inside the slightly opened interior, but no one came out yet. The knights told them they will not immediately attack. Marching all the way up here without the intention to kill was what everyone was told. But Brinx knew blood was going to be shed. The shady and mysterious actions of this dark mage group was going to eventually provoke war. And eventually is _now_.

Earlier, Brinx heard rumors that monsters were scarce throughout the wild parts of the lands, as if they'd gone missing lately. That made him concerned, as the dark mages might have controlled the beasts and gathered them to their fortress once again to add to their numbers. He hoped that wouldn't be the case.

Suddenly, the door opened all the way, and dark mages began pouring out of the stronghold and forming a similar front that the knights did. Some of the soldiers started to raise their weapons, but a sharp command to hold lowered their hands.

A tall man walked out toward the center of the field, between the two fronts. Brinx noticed Neal and Vyncent do the same. They exchanged a few words, before the dark mage fired a projectile toward them. Neal cut through it with ease and the two parties retreated back to their lines. It was only a matter of time, thought Brinx. He drew his sword. Could he face himself to kill a human? Evil or not? He'll kill if he must. He'd rather render someone useless until the battle is over and they can be healed, but does life always work that way? Hardly.

The dark mages all gathered their energy into projectiles and sent them soaring into the sky in an arc. Brinx watched the sky turn black as the projectiles began to fall toward them. However, they were prepared for this. The white mages had a similar plan, but with a barrier spell. A huge cover of green light appeared over them, and Brinx heard all the dark magic collide into the white magic. After all of the harsh noise ceased, the barrier held through. Rothguard simply outnumbered the dark mages. Their forces weren't enough.

The black mages produced a volley of elemental spells over to the enemy next. What is this, a spell aiming contest? That's what the soldiers must have been thinking, as they started charging them. Behind the dark mages were walls. If they pushed them back enough, they'd soon be against that wall, and victory will be in the knight's favor.

But it didn't go as smoothly as expected. Though they were being forced to retreat, the dark mages weren't helpless. They shot needle like projectiles straight at the pursuing knights at high speed, injuring some but they were mostly blocked by shields.

WIth potential victory looming over them, the knights drove the mages closer and closer toward the building, the battle changed dramastically. A large rumbling shook the ground from the fortress, and monsters rushed toward the knights from both sides. Brinx looked up and saw winged creatures fly over the top of the wall. They were baited right into a trap?! No, that they had to use one of their cards because it was necessary. They weren't expecting this battle.

There were a few cries of pain coming from the sides. The vulnerable white mages were in trouble! They were commanded to immediately gather together in the center of the line so the knights could surround and protect them. Brinx leapt in front of a young healer and swiped his blade at the claws of the winged beast trying to attack her. Despite not finding himself able to stick his sword into a dark mage's heart yet, he had no problem killing evil monsters. He cut the winged creature down, leaving the girl behind him unscathed. He heard her whimpering and felt her wrap her arms around his back in fear. He turned around and told her to quickly join the other white mages in the protection of the center. She scurried over and joined the crowded circle. Brinx saw the commanding white mage, that young girl Mirabelle, and the healer he saved both mouth the words "Thank you." But he couldn't hear them over there from all the fighting. He nodded and turned back around, defending his side for them.

Brinx saw an even younger helpless girl on the battlefield. Damn, he thinks. How could someone so young be forced into this madness? But she was one of the enemy. Dark robes. She had light green hair. She was shakily avoiding all of the bigger people being pushed and shoved and stabbed all around her. She fell to the ground a few times but stood up quickly again, looking around for a safe place.

Suddenly Brinx noticed a dark projectile arcing down toward her. She was standing still in that moment, looking around with wide eyes. He gritted his teeth and took off toward her as fast as he could in the sloshy snow. He didn't care if she was on the other side. She was helpless and afraid, and didn't deserve to be there. He wanted to save her.

He managed to reach her in time and he pushed her from behind. She fell face forward into the snow, but that was much better than being struck down by dark energy. However, he had barely pushed her out of the way in time, and the projectile lodged into his forearm and dissipated. He shrieked in pain and fell to his knees. Blood leaked from the wound, as well as black smoke from the magic dissipating. He couldn't feel his left arm anymore, it felt so weak and numb. Luckily, it wasn't his sword hand, he thinks. He hoped the little girl was safe. She disappeared from the imprint she created in the snow.

Then his vision grew blurry. Whatever effect that dark magic causes was starting to spread through his entire body. He felt numb, he couldn't see. Only the grey and black night sky. He couldn't hear the cries of battle all around him, even though he could barely see them. They looked like blurry blobs shifting around him. Next thing he knew, his conscious drifted away.

Brinx awoke. His vision was still a bit blurry, but his strange paralysis was disappearing. He could feel his arms again. His strength was returning. His vision was becoming clear again. He sat up and buried his head into his hands for a moment. He had a slight headache.

He checked his surroundings. He was sitting in the snow, but in a different location than when he passed out. He was in a dead forest. He could see the fortress from where he was sitting, although it was in crumbles. It looked like the side wall, so he was away from the front lines. But most importantly, it was light outside. He was unconscious for the entire night?! What happened since then? Did anyone win?

He heard something behind him. He turned his head, and saw a girl with silver hair on her knees, looking exhausted. There was a healing staff next to her in the snow. It looked worn, as if depleted of its power.

He gazed into those purple eyes, becoming lost in them, as if it was a dream. He blinked. It was… Dana! He wanted to scream her name in joy, run up and embrace her,kiss her, hold her forever and never let go. But his strength hadn't returned completely.

"Dejavu… isn't it?" She said weakly.


	4. Quest Four: Departure

**Quest Four: Departure**

"Hi… Brinx." Dana was on her knees, breathing heavily. Brinx's wound was completely healed. The paralysis spreading from his arm had dissipated. His energy was low, and his muscles were sore, but he was feeling much better than the last time he was conscious.

He rushed over to her, asking her questions at a million miles per hour. Are you alright?! What happened?! Are you safe?! Where'd you go?!

"Brinx… I'm so sorry… It's been so long since I've spoken to you." She started tearing up. He wrapped his arms around her. It was then that he noticed she was wearing a dark robe. He let go of her and slowly leaned back. Their eyes met.

"I want to explain everything to you, Brinx… But one thing is certain: I am not your enemy… I love you." She said. He didn't know what to say. Her eyes started to close. She was still breathing heavily and worn out. He noticed her face ears and nose were very pink. She's been outside in the snow for too long in just that robe. He picked her up and slung her over his shoulders. He left the edge of the forest and walked toward the broken fortress. There was a small section toward the backside which still looked stable. He brought her into the fortress and set her on the stone floor. The ground was still pretty cold, but it's better than lying in the snow. He set her down gently and held her head up with his hand.

"Brinx… I'll explain what happened… But my sister… is trapped under the stronghold. She retreated into the cellar and is injured. Don't worry, she won't hurt you. Tell her Dana sent you to rescue to her. She can only get out of the cellar with your help." Now that she was in a better position, and after Brinx took off the cloak over his armor and put it over her, she looked a bit better, and her breathing was returning to normal. But Brinx still wasn't sure if she was okay. Dana saw the look in his eyes. "Don't worry about me. I'm okay now that you rescued me. But my sister is my only family. I don't want to lose her. Please..." She was practically whimpering. She looked close to bursting into emotional distress.

She told him where the cellar was after much sniffing, and he took off toward it. Luckily it was not too far from where he set Dana down, so it was still in the safe side of the fortress. He passed by a large door that led to the front. He couldn't even see what was beyond it; stone chunks and parts of a pillar completely blocked it off.

He reached the hatch to the cellar and swung it open, and quickly descended the ladder. But the wood was old, so when he was just over halfway down, the rung under him snapped and hell took a hard fall. The rung that would have been right under the one he broke was gone too. After he took the bad landing, a silver haired girl was lying down next to him, looking quite weak.

"Heh… You too, huh. That ladder is such a pain…" The girl said. She sounded similar to Dana, but older. Of course, she was older than her younger sister. Dana had told him a little bit about her sister once. Her name was Layla. She was five years older than Dana. Their parents were killed when Dana was an infant, so Layla took care of her sister and basically raised her.

"Seems like we're stuck down here, no?" Layla said. Brinx shakily placed his hands flat on the ground to raise himself back up. He told her he could get them both out of there. There was enough rungs on the ladder that they could still reach and climb back up from the bottom of the cellar.

"Sure, kid…" Layla coughed a few times. There was a strange wound in her stomach. It wasn't from a physical weapon. Not a cut. It was most likely magic. There was blood that stained around it, but not much. Not fatal, but needs to be addressed soon. "Well, you look pretty strong… for a Rothguardian." She said Rothguardian with an edge. "Why are you saving me, anyway? You defeated us… We're enemies…" Although she was saying that, she still accepted Brinx's offer for help. She wrapped her arm around him. He started to hoist her up. Her face was close to his.

"Oh… I think I know who you are… The only way you knew I was down here was by my sister. You must be the boyfriend. Hmm." She was looking at him seductively. "I can see what Dana sees in you. You're a charmer."

Brinx felt embarrassed. She's older than him, but still very attractive. And the way she was looking at him felt like he was being sucked right into her enticement. He blushed and quickly looked away. Layla laughed.

"Oh hoh… Are your feelings for her wavering? What's with that reaction, boy?" She asked. He was completely confused and irritated by her behavior now. He felt like she was trying to manipulate him now. He just wanted to quickly get her safely back up and reunite her with her sister.

He picked her up, and she wrapped her other arm tightly and legs tightly around him. She was leaning against his back, so his arms were free to climb the ladder. Her arms were shaking slightly, so she didn't have the strength to hold on for too long. He needed to get up the ladder quickly so she release her grip.

Brinx grabbed hold of the ladder and started to climb. First rung. Second rung. _Snap!_ His boot hit the first rung hard but it held, but he lost his balance and started to fall backwards. He quickly turned around so he would land first, taking the fall for Layla.

She landed on his back safely. "Stupid piece of junk ladder!" He felt her try to kick at the ladder but it was weak. She slowly slid to the side off of Brinx. He asked her if she was okay.

"Hm… Being in this position makes me feel funny. Lying down, right next to you…" She leaned forward and nibbled on his ear. He tried to resist, but she kept pulling herself closer to him by grabbing his sleeves as he kept inching back. "Mm… Stop running, boy. You can't escape me." He was baffled at why she was being so seductive. He told her he'll try getting them out of here again.

"Fine… I just want to use my only chance to hold you like this as much as I can before I hand you back over to my sister~." She said playfully. He ignored that and hoisted her back up. "The strong and silent kind, huh? I didn't know you were Dana's type…"

He grabbed the ladder once again and took the first step. There was a gap now between the first and third rung. He took a deep breath, and raised his knee high to reach the third rung. He made it, and slowly lifted up his other leg. It put some stress on his upper leg muscles, but it wasn't too bad. The challenge would be the two rungs after that, which were missing. Now there was a two rung gap between the one he was on and the next one. He had to rely on arm strength now to climb. Just get it over with, he thought. One or two painful pull-ups. No big deal. He grabbed as high as he could with his left hand and tightened his grip. Then he pulled himself and Layla up with all his might to grab at the same height with his right hand. He slowly got through that process one more time and reached the next rung safely. It didn't break when he stepped on it either. Just a few more rungs and they'd be free of the cellar. He took a quick moment to rest his arms and catch a breather. To his surprise, he suddenly felt Layla lean forward over his shoulder and grab the left side of the ladder. She placed her foot onto the rung just next to his foot, and she pushed him off of the ladder. She tricked him! She was just teasing him like that to let his guard down…

Brinx fell backward with his eyes wide. Right before he landed, he saw that her plan did not go exactly as she had planned. The pressure added onto the rung by Layla had made it snap, and she slipped off too.

"Ah!" She screamed in pain as she landed. She had felt that pain plus the tightening of her wounded stomach from bracing herself for the fall. The two of them were side by side on the ground once again.

"Ha… Ha…" She started to weakly laugh, but coughed in between. "That damn… ladder…"

Brinx gritted his teeth. The bitch is a dark mage, how could he have trusted her? But as he thinks that, he remembers that Dana is wearing the exact same robe as her. Can he no longer trust Dana? Was their relationship a lie?

His back hurt. The first two falls didn't hurt much; He landed on the ground the best possible way. This time, however, it was a complete surprise. He landed hard on his back.

"Now I feel foolish… For trying to pull that off, but end up back on this damn stone right next to you again…" Layla said. He didn't say anything. She looked over at him with malice. "Pfft. How can I trust _you_ , Rothguardian welp? I despise you… even more so since you've been all over my sister!"

She reached into her robe and pulled out a dagger and lunged toward him. He pushed off the ground away from her and rolled away, but she had nicked him on his cheek. He used the momentum to end up on one knee with Layla in his sight. Right next to him was his sword in its sheath, which had detached from his belt after he first fell down into the cellar. He would have completely forgot about it if he had actually made it out of the cellar successfully with Layla. He grabbed it and quickly drew it from the sheath.

Layla had a crazed look in her eyes. Her hair was falling over her eyes and she kept shaking her head to keep it from obstructing her vision. Her mouth was open, and she was breathing fast with anger. With what seemed to be the small remainder of her magical energy which had been drained from the battle the night prior, she covered the blade of the dagger with dark smoke, turning it into a magical weapon. A lethal one at that.

Brinx shook his head. Don't do it, he told her. He said it multiple times, almost begging her sometimes, but he knew she was still going to try to kill him no matter what. She pounced at him with the blade pointed right toward his heart. He shut his eyes tightly, and with much agony, thrusted his blade forward. He opened his eyes to witness the horrible sight of his blade pierced right through her chest, blood and all.

With her last dying breaths, he could see in her eyes what her feelings were. Her look told him that she didn't give a shit about him personally, but rather Dana. She figured out that Dana sent him to rescue her because she knew that Dana was the only one who saw her retreat into the cellar to stay alive. Brinx didn't know what their relationship was like, but it seemed as if Layla was resentful to her. What is that made her be this way? Jealousy that Dana had a boyfriend? Her kind and cheerful personality, unlike Layla's? The fact that she was a healer and wasn't born with the capability of dark magic like her? Brinx thought that if it was any of those reasons, then she is an awful sister…

She dropped the dagger and hung her head. Brinx had killed her. He slowly pulled out his blade and she dropped to the ground, but he caught her before she landed. He knelt down and buried his head into her shoulder and fought the urge to cry. He kept asking her why did she do that, he didn't want to kill her. He wanted her to be with her sister! Why the hell would he desire her death? He felt anguished and distraught that Dana would never be able to talk to her only member of her family again.

He realized he was keeping Dana waiting, and needed to get back to her. He managed to climb out of the cellar and walked dolefully back to Dana. There she was, sitting up now. Right behind her was the light of outside, so her presence looked illuminated and divine. Her silver hair shone brightly, as if purely white. He felt more and more pain with each step he took toward her.

"Brinx…? What happened? There's a cut on your face…" She said. He knelt down in front of her, and she looked closely at his face. She licked her finger and wiped off the blood, and pointed her finger at the wound. A small green light appeared and his wound closed. Then she looked up into his eyes and saw his sorrowful expression. "Layla… She…"

He explained what happened with much difficulty and almost broke down a few times. But she did not cry. She was only looking at him, expressionless. He told her he did not want to kill her at all and it made him sick to his stomach. He asked her why she would do such a thing and buried his head into her chest. She placed her arm around him and rested her chin on his head. She said it was not his fault. She didn't blame him for anything. She said although she kept denying it, her sister was truly evil and devoted to the rise of dark magic and chaos. She told him she felt helpless and powerless, and couldn't stop her sister on the path she was taking. She said she was so sorry that Brinx was hurt because of Layla, but Brinx shook his head. He had hurt her more because of his actions. He let go of her and stood up, telling her that him being a part of her life has caused her and her sister grievance. She said that isn't true, nothing could be done about her decision. He said if he had never met her, her and Layla's fate may have been different, and she would still be alive. She shook her head, and told him as awful as it sounds, if she was still alive she would only aid the bringing of chaos and destruction to the world. Brinx thought that because she said that, she wasn't affected by her sister's death. But after a few minutes of silence, he heard her softly crying. He turned toward her, and tears were leaking from her eyes. It was all because of him. He felt the most emotional pain in his entire life when he saw her like that. He just wanted to sink to the bottom of the ocean and never return to the surface. Right when he saw the anguish on her face, he knew he couldn't ever face her again. He said he will never bring her pain or suffering again, and the only way to do that was to leave her forever. She cried and cried, begging him not to leave her. He said that being with her will only remind her of her pain.

So Brinx left her after saying goodbye. He sent someone to help her and left Rothguard without looking back. He was just a common soldier, nobody will notice. They'd just take him for dead and leave it at that. He left everything in his room at the barracks. His money, clothes, and other junk. He didn't keep much stuff.

Brinx travelled south back to Gariland to learn more about other places the land had to offer. A tale of a ruined ancient empire fascinated him, and he set course for Elstonia in the south. Sometimes at nights when he was asleep in his tent along the way, he would dream about Dana. It was the same dream each time. She had wings of an angel and would gracefully float down to him. And every time, against his will, Brinx just felt his arm raise a blade that was completely black and point it at her heart. She would look at him with that expressionless face she made before she had broken into tears. Then he drove the blade through her heart and the dream, probably more like a nightmare, ended. When he had those dreams a few times, he would sit outside his tent and stare at the ground until he could stop thinking about it. Sometimes it took a few minutes, and sometimes it took a few hours…

About a week later, Brinx was running out of food. He'd found a few rabbits and fish along the way, but in the canyon, wildlife was sparse. He ate the remains of his food on the morning of the seventh day since departing from Gariland, finding himself at the point of no return. He decided to keep moving forward until he made it to Elstonia, where he could hopefully find nourishment quick. From Gariland, he was travelling on a course set by words only, as he couldn't find a map of this area. The guy he'd paid gil to to gain this information of Elstonia's existence said it would take a week maximum. Brinx started to think at this point that the route he was told must have been terrible. He's seen no signs of any establishment in the canyon yet. He was starting to wonder if it really existed at all, but many people in town told him it did exist.

Soon enough, Brinx found another living organism. He was on the brink of passing out on the ground from dehydration and hunger. A girl. Young. Strange purple hair. A large yellow witch hat. She was sitting alone on the edge of a crevice. Her feet were dangling. He knew what he was doing was reckless, as she could have been a hostile person, but he had nothing else to lose at this point. He tried to speak to her from behind, where he was coming from, but only a small raspy noise came from his mouth. He was too dehydrated. The girl turned around and tilted her head, but he didn't remember much after that. Brinx's vision turned to black and he hit the ground.

When he awoke, Brinx was in a bed. A cool rag was on his head. He looked around the room. There were magical trinkets everywhere: old wooden staves, hats, tomes, orbs. It looked really neat. He sat up and rubbed his eyes. He felt hydrated and less hungry than before. He must thank who saved him, he thought, whoever it was and wherever they were.

 _POOF!_ Purple smoke appeared in front of him, and the girl that he saw before he fell unconscious stood before him. He leapt up in surprise and backed up to the wall. A brass bracelet fell from on the wall above and hit him in the head. The girl giggled.

"You're really clumsy, ehe~!" She said. His heart was beating rapidly. He'd never experienced a jump scare like that in his entire life. "Who are ya, and just why'd ya make me save you, huhhh?"

Brinx was still bewildered by the strange girl. "Loss for words? I better explain what happened, I guess…" She said.

As soon as he had passed out, She walked over to him, a little confused. Then she noticed the look on his face and saw that he was in danger of dehydration. She dragged him back to the small house she lived in. There, she poured some water down his gullet and made him eat a few berries. He was asleep on her bed until now.

He looked at her strangely. She suddenly seemed embarrassed, and looked away quickly. "W-what?! Would you rather I _didn't_ help you?! There is no other place besides my room for you to recover in…"

He thanked her for her help. He would have been a goner without her. "You're welcome~. Where were you coming from, anyways?" He told her his name and that he left from Gariland. She raised an eyebrow. "Gariland? Why were you walking from the east? You shoulda just went straight south right from the gate… Much quicker." Brinx gritted his teeth and silently cursed the bastard who gave him such weird directions. He knew something was funny with the route, with all of those turns.

"Anyway Brinx… Oh wait! I didn't tell you my name! It's Bella~!" She said. "Anyways, so why'd you leave Gariland? There isn't much down here in the canyon."

He tilted his head and asked her if they were in Elstonia. Her eyes widened. "Elstonia?! You've heard of it too? I've always wanted to go there! I can only dream of all the riches and gold buried under all of that rock…" She was dreamy eyed, especially from saying riches and gold. Then she looked back at him. "Hmm… You don't speak much, do you? I don't see a problem in that. You're a really kind person, I can tell by your aura. That's why I saved you, ya know."

They started to chat. Bella told him she was from a mage guild called Mayweather, where the most powerful mages lived. He asked her why she left, and she said for two reasons: Mayweather wasn't fond of her magical specialty, the tricky Illusion Magic, so they didn't teach it, and she wanted to follow her dream of searching for treasure. He said isn't that Illusionary the twisted and dark kind of magic, and she slapped him. She said her magic is not evil, very angrily at that. He apologized with both hands raised, but her anger quickly subsided. She said she wanted to know more about him. But he kept it brief. He didn't feel like taking a stroll through his past few years again.

"A soldier? That must have been mundane…" Bella said. "I think one's life should be lived freely and to the fullest, wouldn't you agree?" He asked her how she lives her life. "I'm a treasure hunter~! I follow my dream every day! I'm the apprentice of a gem miner named Hein. He's kinda scary, but he's very skilled at his craft."

Brinx felt a bit uneasy when she said this. Strange living arrangement, he thought… This young girl living with some 'scary' man who isn't her family. Her room is in the basement… She is his 'apprentice' or so she says… This house is in the middle of nowhere… He started to think he might be in some trouble. He was more alert and sharp now. He didn't even think that this girl might not be able to be trusted, either. She has that slippery Illusion magic in her blood, so she's capable of any form of manipulation if she's capable enough…

Brinx asked her how to get to the ruins. "You want to go there?! It's pretty dangerous, ya know… The reason I haven't been able to go is because there are strange people down there. They seem to be looking for a huge Crystal that legend says is down there. I figured it isn't safe to go down there while they're lurking around."

He asked her more about the 'strange people'. "Eh? They wear these dark robes and hoods. Very creepy vibe, I tell you… As soon as I pick up on that I turn around and get away as fast as I can." His eyes widened. Dark mages?! There can be a possible but narrow chance that Dana could be there! He looked down when he thought of that. He needed to stop thinking about her and move on, if he could ever do that… He sometimes doubts if his decision was what he really wanted.

So Brinx decided he would approach the ruins to investigate. Those dark mages are still lurking about, those few survivors. If they were plotting something he would be able to find out and bring it to attention before anything wicked happens. Or, so he wanted to go, but his plan was delayed when someone slammed open Bella's old door.

"Hey! Get up here, you worthless girl!" An angry sounding voice screamed. "We've got work to do!" When she heard that, Bella jumped.

"Oh… Hein. You're back already?" She said quietly. Brinx couldn't see who it was. The door that was opened was obstructing his view of him.

"The hell does that mean, huh?! Get to work already! Hmm?" The man took another step in the room and looked to the left. Brinx saw his insane face: A middle-aged man. Balding. Crazy eyed. Permanent snarl. He was looking at Brinx like he wanted to rip apart his insides.

"Who the hell are you?" He spat.

"This is Brinx, Hein… He was unconscious in the canyon and I saved him earlier…" Bella said.

"Why would you do that, girl? Shoulda left 'im for the wolves…" He turned toward Brinx. "Get outta my house, you…"

"D-Don't say that, Hein! He was dying and I just helped him out!" She insisted, but he curled his hand into a fist and she flinched. Brinx's eyes widened. He was starting to get an idea of what was going on here… He turned back toward Hein, with a scowl on his face.

"The hell is wrong with you? Do you even speak or something, _boy?_ I said get out!" Hein screamed. Bella was about to say something again, but stopped when Brinx stood up.

"Yes, I speak…" He said with animosity, balling his hands into fists. Hein and Bella looked at him. Bella stopped talking when she heard that. Even though the two of them barely knew Brinx, they could tell that he usually doesn't act or speak like that.

"Tch." Hein gritted his teeth. "If you're some lost cause, then get to work. Living here is not free, brat." He turned and walked away.

Bella was trembling slightly and didn't move until she heard Hein go all the way back up the stairs. "He's… never been stood up to like that before." She whispered. "I'd be careful if I were you…"

He ignored that, and asked her if Hein has ever tried to hurt her before. "Um… no. H-He hasn't…" She was fiddling with her hands, an easy sign of bending the truth. He asked her again. "...Once. He was really angry that I broke a small piece of a jewel a while ago, and he stepped toward me as if to hit me, but I used some magic behind my back to make it look like I ran away in fear, so he stomped off…"

Brinx stood up with his teeth gritted and took off toward the stairs. Bella jumped up and started pulling at his arm. "No! No!" She whispered. "Please don't! He owns this house and I have no other place around here to go that has the tools I need!"

He stopped, and told her that a bastard like Hein who would lay a hand on a young girl deserves to be behind bars.

"B-but… I don't know what I would do if that happens…" She started welling up with tears. It totally wasn't like the enthusiastic girl at all, but she also was the type to not hold her emotions inside. "J-just stay here for a little while, and we could try to find something better or something. Could you help me with that?"

Brinx decided to help her. Hein threw them both outside the next day and told them to not come back until they've stripped a section of the canyon apart of all its gold and gems. He nearly hit Bella with a pickaxe when he tossed two of them toward Brinx and Bella, and Brinx wanted to punch him in the jaw, but Bella tugged on his sleeve for them to just get going. For the next week or so, the two of them would go deeper in the canyon and Bella would use her Illusion magic to make them appear to be mining away into the earth at their section. Then they would sneak off and go toward the ancient ruins. Bella could only use her magic for a limited amount of time before she had to release the Illusion, so they had a small time window to search for the village of Elstonia or the dark mages. There wasn't much hope for them at first, until they finally found the small village hidden between the jagged earth. There, they discovered the way to enter the ancient ruins, and formed a plan to investigate inside. They went inside and delved deeper into the maze of caverns until they heard voices. They crouched behind a boulder and slowly peaked around to see a group of dark mages.


End file.
